Mixing Up Your Play

Mixing up your play is an important part of poker because it keeps you from becoming too predictable. The problem with predictability (other than the fact that it’s boring) is that the more predictable you, the easier it is for your opponents to play perfect poker against you. For example, if you ran into the most predictable opponent ever who only bets when he has the nuts and folds everything else, it would be simple to take all his money.

There are many thing you can do to mix up your play at the tables and avoid becoming an easy target. There’s more to it than just throwing out random bluffs, by the way. You can mix up your play by changing how you play made hands, how you play draws, how you bluff and much more. In this article, I’ll cover a couple of the easiest ways to mix up your play.

1. The occasional bluff and semi-bluff

You don’t need to bluff often to become an unpredictable player. The occasional, well-timed bluff will keep your opponents off guard and make you a more dangerous player. A good bluffing game brings with it two benefits: you win more pots than you would otherwise and you get more action with your legitimate hands.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to get caught bluffing to become an unpredictable player. Simply having a slightly higher rate of betting than you should makes it difficult for your opponents to play a perfect game against you. They may suspect you of bluffing but will be unsure of what to do about it. If you do get caught, it will only help you that much more. But try not to get caught, ok?

2. Changing the way you play made hands

By changing the way you play made hands, you make it difficult for your opponents to know whether to call or fold to your bets. Mixing up your play with made hands is easy. Let’s say, for example, that you hit a set in a raised pot. Sometimes you can check raise on the flop, other times you can come right out betting. Every once in a while, you can even slow play it down to the river.

One thing I like to do on occasion is to think back to the last bluff I played and then try to play my made hand in the same manner. This helps randomize your play without you having to think too hard about it. But remember: the ultimate goal with any made hand is to make as much money as possible with it. The money is always the priority.

3. The float maneuver

The “float maneuver” is a simple way to mix up your play and really irritate your opponents at the same time. To pull a float, all you have to do is call a preflop raise from one of your opponents, call his flop bet and then make a bet on the turn if that opponent checks to you.

Let’s use an example to help explain this concept. Imagine that you’re in a normal no limit ring game and some opponent puts in a standard preflop raise. You have a pair of 4s in late position and would like to hit a set. So you call the raise, see the flop and miss your set. Instead of just giving up, try calling your opponent’s continuation bet. Many times your opponent has something like AK and completely missed the flop as well. Just smooth call that continuation bet on the flop and then make a bet on the turn if the player in question checks to you.

To even further confuse your opponents, you should occasionally play made hands in this same exact manner. The goal here is to get your opponents so confused that they fold when you have nothing and then call when you actually have a hand. The more you mix up your play, the more mistakes your opponents make.

4. Not changing your play at all

Sometimes the best way to mix up your play is to play all hands in the same manner. The most obvious example of this is continuation betting. I don’t place a continuation bet every hand, but when I do it’s always 75% of the pot. It doesn’t matter if I have the stone cold nuts are absolutely nothing. My continuation bet is always 75% the size of the pot.

This simple technique makes it impossible for your opponents to read your hands based on the size of your bet. The absolute size of your bet may change, but if it’s always 75% the size of the pot, it won’t give your opponents any information about your hand. The more information you can keep from your opponents, the better off you are.

Summary

These are just a few of the many ways you can mix up your play. It’s really not a difficult concept to figure out but it requires a little effort. The more you pay attention to the game at hand, the easier it is for you to consciously mix up your play. Remember also that you don’t have to make very many major changes to keep your opponents off balance. The occasional bluff and a slight mixing up of the way you play your made hands is really all it takes to keep your game unpredictable.